Canopy cover is the percent of the city that's covered by trees, as seen in an aerial view.

Recently, Seattle's canopy cover was re-visited to estimate levels in 2002/03 and 2007 using current technology (QuickBird satellite data) and advanced data extraction methods. This assessment found that Seattle has about 23% canopy cover.

Canopy Cover in Your NeighborhoodYou can look at the canopy cover in your neighborhood or even your yard through the Department of Planning and Development's GIS website. Just insert your address and check the tree canopy box. Please keep in mind that in order to display tree canopy in the mapping program, we were required to considerably condense the data. Therefore, these aggregated results are less accurate than the GIS version but do provide a general sense of the extent and distribution of tree canopy across the city.

You can learn more about trees in your neighborhood by looking at this map or table of canopy cover by neighborhood.

City Canopy GoalsSeattle's goal, established in 2007, is to reach 30% canopy cover in 30 years. The data from the recent study is exciting because it provides critical information about recent canopy changes across the city as well as within different land uses, neighborhoods, and watersheds. This information allows the City to better plan and manage Seattle's urban forest.